Noise Levels in South Park, Morgantown, WV | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across South Park
Quiet office to normal conversation
832
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
43% of South Park residents
61 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across South Park at 100-meter resolution, combining road, aviation, and rail sources. Green areas measure below 45 dBA. Orange and red exceed the EPA's 55 dBA outdoor threshold linked to long-term health effects. Use the layer toggles to view each source on its own or all together.
What the numbers sound like
- 30 dBAWhisper
- 40 dBASoft rainfall
- 45 dBAQuiet suburban street at night
- 50 dBAQuiet office
- 55 dBAEPA outdoor threshold: light traffic 100 ft away
- 60 dBANormal conversation an arm's length away
- 65 dBABusy restaurant
- 70 dBAHighway traffic 50 ft away
- 80 dBACity bus interior
Population Above the EPA Outdoor Threshold
The EPA's 55 dBA outdoor reference level is a common benchmark for residential noise exposure, especially for activity interference, annoyance, and long-term community noise concerns. About 832 South Park residents, or 43.1%, live above that level. By land area, 48.0% of South Park is above 55 dBA.
52.0% below 55 dBA
48.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in South Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of South Park
Average noise levels for South Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of South Park. The highest population-weighted average is in northern South Park; the lowest is in southern South Park, where just 17% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Northern South Park
56.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central South Park
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern South Park
50.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northern South Park sounds about 45% louder than in southern South Park, a 5.4 dBA gap. Every 10 dBA roughly doubles perceived loudness. Within any of these directions, two homes a quarter mile apart can still differ by 10 or more dBA depending on how close they sit to a major highway.
How far back from do you need to be?
produces an estimated 61 dBA at its loudest centerline points. Noise drops logarithmically with distance, with the exact rate depending on what's between you and the road. Tree cover, walls, terrain, and pavement type all matter. At roughly a quarter mile back, traffic fades into the noise level of a soft rainfall.
At source
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 26% of South Park sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 40% is impervious surface like pavement and rooftops. Both are folded into the per-place decay rate above. Heavier canopy pulls noise down faster with distance; impervious surfaces slow the drop.
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How Noise Is Distributed Across South Park
The bar chart below shows the share of South Park residents in each noise band. About 68% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How South Park Compares
South Park sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how South Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with wiles-hill-morgantown-wv, Hopecrest, The Flatts, and jerome-park-morgantown-wv.
Average noise level (dBA)
South Park's 53.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. West Virginia as a whole averages 47.7 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than South Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 43.1% of South Park residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's in the middle of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 48.0% of South Park's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a West Virginia average of 21.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to South Park
- Distance from highways matters more than the neighborhood name. Two homes in the same zip code can differ by 20 dBA if one sits 100 meters from and the other 500 meters away. The model captures this at 100-meter resolution, so noise exposure changes block by block.
- Tree canopy can help reduce modeled noise exposure. Roughly 26% of South Park is under tree cover (heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is low-intensity developed land. Both are measured from federal USDA Forest Service and USGS satellite imagery at 30-meter resolution. Streets with 60% or higher canopy show 3 to 5 dBA lower noise than comparable streets with bare ground or pavement, which is why the per-place decay rate above already accounts for it.
